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Latest Cycling News for September 12, 2006

Edited by Jeff Jones and David Collins, with assistance from Susan
Westemeyer

Former US Postal riders admit EPO use

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In an interview with the New York Times, two former riders with Lance
Armstrong's 1999 US Postal team admitted that they took drugs to help
prepare for the Tour de France that year. Frankie Andreu and one other
rider, who wished to remain anonymous "because he said he did not want
to jeopardize his job in cycling" said that they wanted to come clean
because doping and its denial are damaging the sport.

"There are two levels of guys," Andreu told the NYT. "You got
the guys that cheat and guys that are just trying to survive." Andreu
didn't specify when he took EPO, but said it was only for certain races.
The anonymous rider said that he did not take EPO during the Tour. "The
environment was certainly one of, to be accepted, you had to use doping
products," he said. "There was very high pressure to be one of the cool
kids." Both riders said that they never saw Armstrong using illegal performance
enhancing substances.

Andreu said he was introduced to drugs in 1995 while he was riding for
Motorola, where Lance Armstrong was also a rider. Another former Motorola
rider, New Zealander Steven Swart, admitted in L.A. Confidential: The
Secrets of Lance Armstrong to taking EPO while on that team. The team's
doctor, Massimo Testa, told the NYT that he educated the riders
that asked him about EPO but did not encourage them to use it. "If you
want to use a gun, you had better use a manual, rather than to ask the
guy on the street how to use it," he said. "I cannot rule out that someone
did it."

In recent years, other higher profile riders who raced in Armstrong's
team have been involved in drug scandals. Tyler Hamilton, Roberto Heras
and Floyd Landis have all tested positive for banned substances, although
none of them did so while on Armstrong's team.

Lance Armstrong has always denied using performance enhancing drugs,
amidst numerous lawsuits and allegations. French newspaper L'Equipe
alleged that in 1999, Armstrong took EPO during the Tour de France, on
the basis of recent tests carried out on his frozen urine samples. However,
an independent investigation started by the UCI into those allegations
found that there wasn't enough sound evidence to convict Armstrong of
drug use in 1999.

Armstrong and Tailwind Sports also won a lawsuit against insurance company
SCA Promotions, which refused to pay him a $5 million bonus after his
sixth Tour de France win in 2004, based on the allegations that he may
have cheated. During the hearings, Andreu, his wife Betsy, and others
testified that Armstrong told doctors that he had used drugs prior to
getting cancer in 1996. However, that testimony was not considered strong
enough by the case's arbitrators, who ordered SCA to pay Armstrong the
$5 million, plus $181,000 in interest and an additional $2.5 million in
damages.

Haselbacher out of the Vuelta

Gerolsteiner's Rene Haselbacher has ended the Vuelta a España, dropping
out after the 15th stage with an inflamed tendon. He considers the Vuelta
to be a success for him and takes some credit for teammate Robert Förster's
stage win on Sunday. "My form is good. Robert didn't have to ride in the
wind today in the finale. I brought him perfectly in position and he only
had to keep going. The team's happiness was of course huge over this first
stage win in the Vuelta. Now I'm heading back home. I'll take it easy
the next few days in order to heal my injury thoroughly. Then I'll start
my final preparations for the WM in Salzburg." (www.haselbacher.com)

Vuelta diary watch: A day at the beach

There are only three Gerolsteiner riders left in the Vuelta now, so
their two directeurs sportifs and a physical therapist went with them
on their training ride on their day off. A two-hour ride "is really more
than enough on a rest day," decided stage winner Robert Förster, and the
group settled into a beach-front cafe in Almeria. "The ocean looked so
tempting that I decided to go jump in," and he was joined by teammates
Heinrich Haussler and Torsten Hiekmann. After eating, tidying up the suitcase
and taking care of such matters, he lay down and closed his eyes for a
minute - only to oversleep for his massage. "It's crazy, how quickly a
rest day goes by, even though you don't really do anything productive."
(www.radsport-news.com)

Rabobank's Grischa Niermann resisted the temptation of the beach. He
and his teammates settled for a Cafe con Leche at a cafe overlooking the
water. The Dutch team "trained a bit more than on the last rest day, because
tomorrow it should be really hard." Niermann also noted that Sunday afternoon
the peloton flew down to Almeria, getting to the hotels at about 8 p.m.
The staff members, who had come down in the team buses, "had been there
half an hour already. The Vuelta organizers could have spared themselves
all the trouble, because the transfers in the team buses would have taken
the same amount of time and would have been a lot more comfortable." (grischa-niermann.de)

Dutch men's team announced for World's

The Dutch Cycling Federation has announced its eight members of its
team for the upcoming 2006 UCI Road World Championships from September
19-24 in Salzburg. Riders confirmed are Michael Boogerd, Karsten Kroon,
Gerben Löwik, Bram Tankink, Joost Posthuma, Jan Boven, Max van Heeswijk
and Maarten Tjallingii. Young star Thomas Dekker will miss the world's,
after a crash in the Tour of Poland that resulted in a broken bone in
his left hand. This leaves one remaining spot to be filled in the team,
which will be contested for by reserves Pieter Weening, Theo Eltink, Bram
de Groot, Steven de Jongh and Servais Knaven. National coach Van Kessel
will decide on the remaining rider on Wednesday, September 13. National
time trial champion Stef Clement and Joost Posthuma will also ride the
time trial.

The Belgian outfit will arrive in Salzburg on Thursday to familiarize
themselves with the course. From there they will have a better idea on
who will lead the team on Sunday's road race.

"I'm extremely happy with the Belgian team formation for the World Championship,
the team is a very strong and balanced," said the reigning champ Tom Boonen.
"Six of the selected are of the same generation, we have known each other
since we were children. The others three, Baguet, Hoste and Hulsmans,
are riders with a lot of experience. We've got athletes suited to all
types of race styles, a great mix. This year's race route is more difficult
than last year's, so it will be important to have team mates around during
the final kilometres in order to take charge and control the situation
if and when required.

"With regard to my team mates, Baguet, with his experience, could be
the 'eyes' of our coach Carlo Bomans in the race. Hulsmans is riding the
Vuelta extremely well and is improving daily. Nuyens is a rider that we
all know, he's a first class athlete and I'm sure he'll be in the final."

McEwen predicts mass sprint unlikely for World's road race

Robbie McEwen has stated that it's unlikely the road race will end in
a mass sprint on Sunday, however he still remains ambitious about his
chances. "I've spoken to Boonen and we will assume that the climbers may
be tired from the Vuelta, this is good for guys like us." McEwen also
explained that has worked hard to remain sharp for Sunday's race by getting
in some intensive training behind the motorbike, "I don't want to go to
the world championships just for the sake of going, I want to be competitive,"
remarked McEwen.

Cancellara to focus on World's time trial

In his preparation for the World's time trial this weekend, Fabian Cancellara
will not begin stage 16 of the Vuelta a España. After placing a close
second to David Millar in last Saturday's time trial, Cancellara is confident
in being successful at Salzburg. "It is better for me in the run-up to
the world championships to get some training in on my time trial bike,"
he said.

Cancellara explained that it was difficult decision to make. "First
of all there is a great atmosphere among the CSC team at the Vuelta, and
secondly I really wanted to help Carlos [Sastre] as much as I possibly
could for the remainder of the race. The problem is though that there
is now so many mountains and I wouldn't be able to help much anyway."

Kopp injured, out of World's

Gerolsteiner's David Kopp was named on Monday to a starting place on
Germany's World Championship team. Only hours later he had to cancel his
participation, due to a broken arm caused by a training accident.

Kopp was only 200 meters away from his home when it happened. "I had
just started my training ride, when my front wheel slipped away in the
first curve and I went down," he said. An examination at the Eduardos
Hospital in Köln showed a broken right underarm, and the doctors ordered
a three-week rest. "I have to give up the World's and will probably have
to end my season, too," the 27-year-old said.

Wiesenhof-Akud for 3-Länder Tour

Wiesenhof-Akud is gearing up for its "last stage race of the 2006 season,"
the five stage 3-Länder Tour starting Wednesday. Gerhard Trampusch and
Tomas Konecny will be leading the team and looking for GC placement, while
Gerald Ciolek will bet he team's man for sprint finishes.